I noticed that both Coruncanius and Duellanius not only stopped coming here, but have deleted their accounts and their posts along with it. I remember the Coruncanius incidence, but didn't realize that KD would do the same thing. (It was Kaeso, right? Or am I confusing the praenomen?) That we even allowed such a thing is tragic in its own right.

Can someon inform me, and what do we do to prevent this in the future?

IIRC, I'd noticed as much in the "Restoratio Memoriae" topic...that not only ex-Consul Coruncanius had left us, but our former Aedilis Kaeso Duellianus as well; he hasn't been heard from since shortly after the "Topic Organization" thread got started. I'd expressed my hope that the two departures were not related.

Tiberius Draco and I did some experimenting last month; we can delete a member's Board login (leaving him still an SVR member), but there is no way on our end for him to take--or us to send--all his posts with him. Unless something was done server-side, the only way we know of for a Sodalis to make off with everything he ever wrote is for him to delete them all by hand.

As to the larger issues of preventing and allowing such things... The SVR is a free association. Sodales are free to come and go as they please. If a member no longer wishes to be here, we have no power whatsoever make him stay. The Societas has no formal 'resignation' process. (That would be a bit OP-ish anyway, nonne?) We might hope for a courtesy letter or some such, so that we'd know to remove the member from the Album Sodalium at least. But we can't mandate anything.

The only thing that might have kept those two from deleting all their messages would have been some sense of honor, some sense of community, some sense of shame on their end. If either of them had seen the act the way I do--as vandalism, as a deliberate act against the SVR's public record--I trust their Romanitas would've prevented it. But failing that, and in the absence of measures that would make us a more closed society, there is not a whole lot we can do.

One must anticipate a thing to prevent it. No one had ever harmed us in this way, so we could not be on guard for it. I only discovered these things months after the fact. And what could we have done anyway, if we had caught them in the act? Send a PM asking them to desist? It would still have come down to their own decision to either delete things or leave them be.

If it's any comfort, I have disabled deletion privileges in the Comitia (only). Anything posted there will stay there, unless and until my successor changes the setting. But as to the rest...if Pompus Maximus doesn't want anyone to be able to read his article on the Samnite Wars, he's perfectly within his rights to remove it.

Aldus Marius wrote: But as to the rest...if Pompus Maximus doesn't want anyone to be able to read his article on the Samnite Wars, he's perfectly within his rights to remove it.

What? Is that a reference to me? I thought I was the last to take that honorific (after someone tried to pin pontifex maximus on me) and I recall planning on writing about the Samnite Wars.... or are you just hinting that it's about time I get down to writing again? Well, I have been writing but waiting for Marius' updates before submitting any more for the website.

We did make a provision in SVR that any article submitted for our website remains under the editorial control of its author, including the right of an author to request that his or her articles be deleted. If they do, SVR cannot refuse such a request. We didn't exactly carry that over to posts on our message boards, but I think the same principle would apply. SVR respects the free association of our sodales, including their right not to be associated with SVR. It is a little different with non-sodales as SVR retains control over its boards and website and can deny or delete, or accept, posts and articles from non-sodales. And there isn't much involved in becoming a sodalis other than in the asking.

Actually, "Pompus Maximus" was a name, and "Samnite Wars" a subject, that I chose randomly, at least I thought I did. But now that you've reminded me of your exploits, I can't deny the possibility of your influence...at least on a subconscious level! >({|:-)